18-Env-B5 Industrial & Hazardous Waste Management · December 2015
Nivaar worked solution (AI-drafted; not reviewed by a licensed engineer)
Reference texts: Nemerow & Dasgupta, Industrial and Hazardous Waste Treatment, 2nd ed.; Metcalf & Eddy, Wastewater Engineering: Treatment and Resource Recovery, 5th ed.; Davis & Cornwell, Introduction to Environmental Engineering, 6th ed.; LaGrega, Buckingham & Evans, Hazardous Waste Management, 2nd ed.; CCME, Guidelines for the Management of Biomedical Waste in Canada (1992); Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA), 1999; Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes (1989); provincial hazardous waste regulations (e.g. BC's Environmental Management Act and Hazardous Waste Regulation).
Question text not reproduced: the examination questions are © Engineers and Geoscientists BC. Open the official past paper (linked at the top of this page) to read the question, then follow the worked solution below.
Many hazardous compounds (heavy metals, persistent organic pollutants) do not degrade, or degrade only over centuries, so the critical long-term issue is the durability and integrity of containment — whether an engineered barrier (a landfill liner and cap, or a stabilization matrix) can be relied upon to remain intact and prevent leachate migration to groundwater over the very long time horizons the hazard actually persists for, well beyond a typical facility's active operating life. This drives the need for perpetual post-closure monitoring, maintenance, and financial assurance (bonding) long after the site has stopped receiving waste.
